Misunderstood: Inspired by the Neighbor from Hell Series (A Neighbor from Hell YA Book 1)

by R. L. Mathewson

  “It never does,” Jessica murmured in agreement with a sad shake of her head.

  “Shouldn’t you be at Cole’s birthday party?” Sebastian asked, never taking his eyes off Mikey.

  “Probably, but since Cole ditched his own party an hour ago, I don’t think it really matters,” Mathew said, shrugging it off as he reached for his sister’s slice of cake only to grumble when she pulled it out of his reach.

  “This involves them too,” Aunt Zoe said, earning matching nods from the rest of her children while Sebastian seethed.

  There really was no other way to put it, Mikey thought as she mouthed, “Watch your back,” to the boy that she was no longer speaking to.

  “I’d just like to point out that this never would have happened if you’d picked me,” Jonathan said with a heartfelt sigh as he finished off his cake and stole his sister’s.

  “Lesson learned,” Mikey said evenly, refusing to look away first.

  “He can have you,” Sebastian bit out.

  There was a heavy sigh and then, “You kids are going to be the death of me,” Uncle Trevor said as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face.

  “I think we should clear up a few things first,” Aunt Zoe said as she focused her attention on Sebastian. “You are not going to military school,” making him frown.

  “What? But the therapist said–”

  “Do you really think that we would send you off to military school based on the word of a therapist that you’d just met?” Aunt Zoe asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “We love you, Sebastian.”

  “But I screwed up,” Sebastian pointed out, looking confused while the need to kick him intensified.

  “Yeah, you did and we’re going to talk about that, but that doesn’t mean that we’re ready to give up on you,” Aunt Zoe said.

  “It does mean that you’re grounded for a month and that if you ever do anything like that again, I’ll allow Mikey to beat some sense into you,” Uncle Trevor drawled.

  “I’m ready to do that now,” Mikey said, nodding solemnly.

  “And you’ll be joining him for that month,” her stepfather said as he walked into the kitchen, carrying Nathan.

  “But…” Mikey began only to end up sighing when she realized that it was pointless to argue, especially since they were getting off pretty easily considering everything that happened.

  “I just got off the phone with Garret. Seems that he had an interesting conversation with the school,” her stepfather said as he placed Nathan down on the floor so that he could make his way across the kitchen and climb onto Sebastian’s lap.

  Traitor.

  “What did they say?” Uncle Trevor asked as he grabbed one of the sippy cups that they kept here for the twins from the cabinet.

  “First, I’m curious about something,” her stepfather said as he looked at Sebastian. “Would you have gone to that school if you knew that Mikey would get in trouble?”

  “No,” Sebastian said with absolutely no hesitation.

  “Why were you doing it, Sebastian?” Aunt Zoe asked as she took the sippy cup from her husband and poured some apple juice in it before giving it to Nathan, who was lounging comfortably on Sebastian’s lap.

  There was a pause and then, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Well, that’s too bad because we need to figure out a few things including why you went to a school that you knew you weren’t supposed to set foot in,” Uncle Trevor said as he folded his arms back over his chest, letting his son know that he was more than willing to wait this one out.

  For several minutes, Sebastian didn’t say anything as he sat there, glaring at the kitchen cabinets as he ground his jaw and then finally…

  “Because she makes everything better.”

  “I really do,” Mikey said with a sad shake of her head and a heartfelt sigh that drew Sebastian’s glare while Uncle Trevor tried to bite back a smile.

  Clearing his throat, Uncle Trevor said, “That doesn’t really explain why you had to break into the school every day.”

  “It made it easier to get through the day if I had something to look forward to instead of trying to figure out how to kill seven hours every day,” he admitted with a shrug.

  “What I don’t understand is why you told us that you wanted to keep homeschooling instead of going to Radcliffe when you had the chance,” Aunt Zoe said.

  When he didn’t answer her, Mikey said, “Because he didn’t want you to have to try to find a way to come up with the money to cover the tuition. He knew that if he accepted the scholarship, that you would have to find a way to cover Jonathan’s tuition. He lied so that Jonathan could take his place.”

  “You have a big mouth,” Sebastian said, sighing heavily.

  “And you should have told them sooner,” Mikey shot back, not really caring that she was breaking her word, not when keeping her mouth shut meant that Sebastian was stuck in a situation that made him miserable.

  There was a heavy sigh and then, “Sebastian, it’s not your job to worry about that.”

  “Yes, it is,” Sebastian argued, which really didn’t surprise her since he was stubborn.

  “No, it’s–”

  “He can have the scholarship back. I don’t want it,” Jonathan said, drawing everyone’s attention. “I got to go for three years and now it’s Sebastian’s turn. I don’t mind homeschooling,” he said, shrugging it off.

  Nodding, Mikey said, “Let me go so I can slap him.”

  “You’re not dropping out of school,” Uncle Trevor said firmly. “We’ll figure this out.”

  “I don’t want your scholarship. It’s yours,” Sebastian said, leveling an impressive glare on his brother.

  When Jonathan opened his mouth to argue, Sebastian said, “They’re not going to let someone with an arrest record into that school.”

  “We don’t have to worry about that,” Reese said, drawing everyone’s attention back to him as he pulled a thick white envelope out of his back pocket.

  “What happened with the school?” Uncle Trevor asked as he pushed away from the counter so that he could pick Nathan up, who’d fallen asleep on Sebastian’s lap, and settled him in his arms.

  “The good news is that they’re not going to file charges against Sebastian or seek a restraining order. They’re also going to take the expulsion off Mikey’s record so that she can finish the school year. The bad news is that they’re not willing to give Sebastian another chance and allow him to attend the high school next year,” Reese said as Sebastian noticeably relaxed against his chair.

  “Not that I’m complaining, but why aren’t they pressing charges?” Aunt Zoe asked.

  “From what I understand, Garret pointed out that Sebastian should never have been able to gain access to the school in the first place and was only able to do so because they put the students’ safety at risk by leaving the gym door propped open. The fact that they chose to continue to allow that to happen after they became aware that it was happening so that they could catch Sebastian in the act was enough to get them to listen to reason.”

  “What’s with the white envelope?” Jonathan asked as he finished his sister’s cake.

  “This?” Reese said, holding up the envelope before nodding toward Sebastian. “I’d guess that this was the reason why Sebastian went to the school. They took it off him when he was arrested.”

  “What is it?” Mikey asked, unable to help but frown when her father placed it on her lap.

  “It’s your acceptance letter from Rerum Prep,” her father said as Mikey looked from the envelope in her lap to Sebastian. “They’re offering you a partial scholarship.”

  “I hated to see you upset and I was hoping that would help,” Sebastian said with a helpless shrug.

  Nodding once again, Mikey said, “You’re an idiot,” even as she couldn’t help smiling.

  “I know,” Sebastian said, sighing heavily.

  “When they let me out of this chair, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to h
urt you,” she pointed out.

  Nodding, Sebastian said, “I know that, too.”

  “You’re going to have to keep homeschooling until we figure something out, but we will figure it out,” Uncle Trevor said, sighing heavily only to lean down and kiss Nathan’s forehead when her baby brother grumbled something in his sleep.

  “I think that covers everything,” Aunt Zoe said, worrying her bottom lip as she watched Sebastian reluctantly nod.

  “Umm, Sebastian’s still stubborn,” Mikey pointed out since she felt that needed to be addressed and she was hoping to distract him so that he wouldn’t shut down on her again.

  “And you’re still a pain in my ass,” Sebastian shot back.

  Nodding, she said, “This is true.”

  “What about school?” Jonathan asked as he glanced at Sebastian, who she’d like to point out was once again glaring at her.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Aunt Zoe said as Mikey’s eyes narrowed dangerously on Sebastian, because they had one last thing to settle…

  Chapter 41

  “Okay, now this is officially the worst birthday ever,” Chloe whispered to herself only to swallow nervously as she slowly reached over to the grab the baseball bat that she’d been forced to confiscate from her sister after she’d caught her eying it the other day when Cole stopped by to hang out after school.

  Just a few more inches, Chloe told herself, her gaze never leaving her window as the man that was currently breaking into her room slowly pushed her window up and–

  The bat was gone.

  Of course, it was, Chloe thought, biting back a sigh as she moved to climb out of her bed, debating the best way to drag Katie out of the house without her finding out that there was an intruder in her room, mostly because she wouldn’t put it past her sister to take it upon herself to take care of the intruder on her own. She was probably going to have to gag her, Chloe realized, surprisingly okay with that as she glanced from the burglar that she really wished hadn’t picked tonight of all nights to break in, especially since Uncle Nick wasn’t here at the moment, to her bedroom door and–

  “Damn it,” came the familiar mumble that had Chloe frowning as she turned her attention back to the burglar just as he carefully placed a large trash bag on her bedroom floor so that he could shift his attention to something outside her window.

  Admittedly confused, and somewhat concerned that Cole Bradford was breaking into her room in the middle of the night, she reached over and turned on her bedroom light and…

  That was definitely Cole breaking into her room, Chloe thought, watching as he pulled several more black trash bags through her window.

  She opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing here when her bedroom door was thrown open and Katie stepped inside, carrying the baseball bat that she was going to have to hide in the attic. With a smile that actually terrified Chloe a little there, Katie announced with satisfaction, “I knew you’d be back!”

  Before Katie could follow through with whatever disturbing act of violence that was going through her head, Chloe reached over and plucked the baseball bat out of her sister’s hands. Ignoring Katie’s startled gasp of outrage, she focused on Cole. “What are you doing here?”

  “You’re supposed to be asleep,” he said with a heartfelt sigh and a muttered, “This just isn’t going to work for me,” as he took in her room.

  “And you’re supposed to be sane,” Chloe countered with a firm nod as she watched him glance around her room one more time before he walked over to her and–

  “Hey!”

  –palmed her face in his large hand and pushed her out of her room. Before she could respond, he was shutting the door in her face. When the door opened a second later, Chloe sighed with relief when she saw her little sister, who was most likely only opening the door to steal the baseball bat out of her hand, only to frown when Cole closed the door again with an absently mumbled, “We have work to do. Go away.”

  “Just open the door,” Chloe said, reaching for the doorknob only to find it locked, which was kind of terrifying since she didn’t have a lock on her bedroom door. Somewhat concerned that Cole was willing to lock himself in a room with her little sister, who had started to refer to him as her archnemesis again, she tried the door.

  Nothing.

  After a few minutes, she gave up with a sigh and sat down, really hoping that she wasn’t going to have to explain this to the police later. At least she didn’t hear screams of pain or her sister’s demands that Cole beg for mercy. That was something at least, Chloe thought as she sat there, bored out of her mind.

  Just when she was about to give up and go see what was on TV, her bedroom door finally opened just enough for Cole to step out. When he gestured for her to turn around, she opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, but apparently, she was taking too long for him.

  “Close your eyes,” Cole said as he stepped behind her and tied what appeared to be his school tie over her eyes.

  “Is my sister alive?” she asked, making him chuckle like she was joking.

  She wasn’t, but she decided to take that chuckle as good a sign.

  “Ready?” Cole asked as he turned her around.

  “More like terrified,” Chloe admitted when she heard her bedroom door open.

  “Understandable,” Cole murmured as he took her hands in his and led her inside where the familiar scent of burned wax met her and–

  “Happy birthday, Chloe,” Cole said as he removed the tie and Chloe found herself wondering if she’d ever seen this much pink in one room before.

  There were pink balloons everywhere, pink streamers, a pink birthday sign, and even a large cake with pink frosting with her name on it. On her nightstand was an insane amount of ice cream, pink plates, a bowl filled with pink M&M’s, bottles of pink juice, and a large pink box with several obscenely large pink bows on top, placed in the center of her bed, and on the television was Harry Potter.

  “Oh, my god…” Chloe said, trying to take it all in.

  “Do you like it?” Cole asked, drawing her attention to find him holding a bouquet of pink roses.

  “I love it,” Chloe said on a reverent whisper only to realize that she’d fallen a little in love with Cole Bradford at that moment.

  Chapter 42

  “Are you still pissed at me?” Sebastian asked his brother as he grabbed a book off his nightstand and dropped down on his bed with a sigh.

  “Mmmhmm,” Jonathan murmured from the comfort of his bed only to follow that up with, “Are you ever going to let her in?” and a pointed look at their bedroom window.

  Sebastian glanced over at the window, noting that Mikey still had her face pressed against the glass. When she saw him looking, she narrowed her eyes on him and mouthed, “Revenge,” with a slow nod of her head. He watched her for a moment before he shrugged it off and settled back on his bed.

  “Probably not,” Sebastian said around a yawn.

  “I thought she was grounded,” Jonathan murmured thoughtfully.

  “She is, but she takes her revenge very seriously,” Sebastian pointed out only to sigh when a light tapping against the glass dragged his attention back to find Mikey nodding in agreement.

  “Apparently.”

  “Are you ever going to talk to me again?” Sebastian asked as he opened the book only to close it with a sigh because he’d already read this book. God, he missed his iPad, Sebastian thought as he found himself glancing at Mikey.

  He missed her more.

  The only time he’d been allowed out of his room over the past week had been for meals, chores, and to use the bathroom. That was it. The rest of the time he spent in his room where he was expected to report in at random times during the day by sending a picture of whatever he was doing to his parents to ensure that he was where he was supposed to be. Most of the time, he spent staring at the walls, counting down the minutes until his sentence was over, re-reading all the books in his room, forcing himself to nod whenever another rejection le
tter came in the mail and his parents told him not to worry, and ignoring the pain in the ass late at night when she came to his window seeking revenge.

  “That depends…” Jonathan said, letting his words trail off.

  “On what?” Sebastian asked only to find himself looking at Mikey and–

  Rolling his eyes when the little brat steamed up his bedroom window so that she could write “Revenge” backwards. She really was too damn adorable for her own good, Sebastian thought, tempted to open the bedroom window, but…

  Nothing had changed.

  She was still better off without him and he…was going to keep telling himself that until he believed it. In the meantime, he was going to focus on not dying of boredom.

  “On whether or not I get Mikey,” Jonathan said, making him frown as he glanced over at his brother to find the little bastard grinning.

  “But, she’s a pain in the ass,” Sebastian pointed out only to sigh when the tapping began. His gaze flickered over to the window to find her glaring at him, letting him know that she’d heard him.

  Good.

  “I’m willing to overlook that,” Jonathan said, nodding solemnly.

  “She’s also violent,” Sebastian reminded his brother.

  “I’m well aware of that,” Jonathan pointed out.

  “I just feel like you could do so much better,” Sebastian pointed out with a helpless shrug only to end up biting back a smile when the tapping started again.

  “Probably,” Jonathan murmured in agreement as they both glanced at Mikey to find her seething on the other side of their bedroom window.

  With one last glare letting him know that she’d be back, Mikey slowly stepped back away from the window and–

  “Ow!”

  –had him off the bed and across the room a second later, trying to get the window unlocked only to end up shoving Jonathan’s hands out of the way so that he could open the window and climb onto the roof to make sure that she was okay. Only, he never got past the window before the little brat was there, shoving him back into the room and following him as she absently adjusted her backpack over her shoulder.